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July 14, 2026 / 3:48 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Washington — Senate Democrats blocked a must-pass annual defense policy bill from moving forward on Tuesday as they voiced opposition to the Trump administration's handling of the war with Iran. "The NDAA, in my view, has become a referendum on the Iran war," Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters Tuesday. In a 50 to 46 vote, the Senate opposed an initial procedural vote to advance the National Defense Authorization Act. Senate Majority Leader John Thune voted against it a move that allows him to bring up the bill again. Democrats have harshly criticized how the Trump administration has moved ahead in the Iran conflict without approval from Congress. The 1973 War Powers Resolution dictates that the president must report to Congress within 48 hours of deploying forces if lawmakers haven't authorized a declaration of war, and caps any unauthorized engagement at 60 days. But the Trump administration has maintained that hostilities "terminated" in April, until they began again in recent days. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the timing of the vote to proceed to the NDAA, noting that the White House formally notified Congress on Monday that hostilities have resumed in Iran. "Yet Republicans want the Senate to take up the NDAA, the defense bill, as though none of this is happening?" Schumer said ahead of the vote. "As though Congress can debate the nation's central national security bill while ignoring the nation's most urgent national security crisis? We cannot. I will be voting no."The New York Democrat railed against President Trump for "waging an unauthorized war, defying bipartisan majorities in Congress, refusing to level with the American people about the cost, the mission, or the end game."
